


dusk at dawn

by UzukageHime



Category: Final Fantasy XV
Genre: Angst, Gen, Grief/Mourning, Letters, Letters from Past Selves, Not Beta Read, One Shot, Prompto Argentum-centric, Prompto is a sad boi, We Die Like Men
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-02
Updated: 2019-05-02
Packaged: 2020-02-16 02:29:26
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,498
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18682294
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/UzukageHime/pseuds/UzukageHime
Summary: Prompto finds his and Noct's letters from their younger selvesor Prompto is sad because things will never be the same again





	dusk at dawn

The sun rose. After 10 long years in absolute darkness, the sun finally rose. 

Tears had streamed down their faces, whether it was relief or the grief causing tears, Prompto wasn’t sure. It’s been months since that night, since that day the sun finally rose once again. In the midst of reconstructing the city, he had wandered into familiar streets, despite being destroyed, he remembers the route to his old home. Underneath the ruble to his home, he finds a familiar tin box. It’s nothing fancy, just an old cookie container he had used to store his little trinkets. 

He pulled the lid open and saw two envelopes addressed to him and the other to Noct, the one addressed to him was written in his handwriting and he blinked. _Why did he have a letter written from himself to...himself?_ And then realization hit him as he remembered. Prompto remembers that he and Noct has once made a letter to future selves. It was back before they had left for Altissia. The both of them had said they’d open it some time in the future together. But of course, that time never came. 

He closed the small container and brought it with him. He only remembers to check the letters now, months after the rebuilding of the city. Almost afraid, he carefully tears the envelope open and he begins reading. 

_To the future me,_

_It’s kinda weird writing to yourself isn’t it? Haha, but I guess it’s pretty cool too! Like a time capsule kinda thing! Right now, I’m writing this letter while I eat a cookie. You’re in front of me writing a letter too! You’re also ignoring Ignis because he’s telling you to stop eating the junk food at Crow’s Nest, haha, sorry. That one’s my fault. Anyways, there are a lot of things I’m wondering, what’s going on now? Are you and Noct still friends?? I really hope that we stay friends! Best friends! Ah, but that would suck if you guys weren’t anymore—_

Prompto laughs at his younger self’s writing and pauses reading. He grabs the letter along with Noct’s, grabs a coat and begins to head outside. As he walks, he begins reading once more,

_—but positive thoughts! Have you seen a chocobo? We’ve always wanted to see one, haven’t we?! How cool are they? Aa, I really wanna hug one! Noct’s probably with you too, huh?_

Prompto then thinks of the time they had gone to Wiz’s outpost, and then having to defeat a behemoth in order to get the chocobos back running. Ignis, him, Gladio and Noct. Gods, they could’ve died but it was loads of fun.

“Chocobo! Noct! I wanna see a chocobo!” He had cried on the way to Wiz’s outpost and Noct had laughed, and simply said, “I’m looking at one now.”

Prompto had sat there in confusion before realization sunk in, “Hey! MY hair does not look like a chocobo butt! It does not! You all are just mean!” Prompto pouted as the rest laughed at him.

_Ah! I really want to know if Noctis eats vegetables now! Haha, if he has, I wonder how Ignis has finally done it! Is he still drinking Ebony like he always does? Does he still make puns and those little hits at us and stuff?_

Prompto recalls running into goblins and Noct had made a remark, Gladio and he had cried out ‘gross’ and Ignis had thrown back one of his own

‘Ugliest things I’ve ever seen’  
‘That's the same thing I feel whenever I'm with you lot’

Prompto’s heart aches as he continues to read, his hand’s hold on the letter getting tighter and tighter. 

_How’s Gladio? Is he still making fun of Noct? Haha, Noct can say that he has muscle all he wants, but he’s never going to top Gladio, don’t tell him I said that, shhh!_

A laugh that sounds more like a sob escapes his lips, and he can feel the tears well up in his eyes. Gladio and Noct’s banter ringing in his head,

_‘Just take your shirt off’_  
‘Like you? No way’  
‘What? Too embarrassed to show your scrawny body?’  
‘Hey! I got muscle! You just can’t see it!’  
‘If you say so’ 

_More than that, I hope we’re all happy! I can see it now! It’s a spring day, we’re in your room at the Citadel! You’ve been given a day off so we’re playing video games and talking about, I don’t know, maybe girls! Ah! But never mind, you’ll be married to Lunafreya by then, right? Ignis and Gladio are with us! Gladio will be on the couch though. He’s pushed us off the couch because ‘he needs the space more than us’ and you’ll retaliate and tell him it’s your couch but he won’t move and we’ve resigned to the floor! Oh! Or maybe we’ve gone on another adventure! Where have we gone next after Altissia? Do you slay daemons? Saving the world by Noct’s side? Have we gone to others places? Where have we gone? It’s always going to be the four of us, isn’t it?_

Prompto can feel his grief rising and then drowning him, choking him. That’s how it was supposed to be, it was always supposed to be the 4 of them. Always, always, always. But the world isn’t fair.

_Hey, future me, I hope you’ve thanked Ignis for all those times he picked us up from the arcade and made us dinner. For always having our backs and for always watching out for us. For dealing with our mess, make sure he knows we care for him too. Tell him to make sure to take a break now and then, alright?_

_I hope you’ve thanked Gladio for all those training sessions and all those times he’s pushed us. He means well, y’know? He always seems to be calling Noct a brat and all of that, but he cares. He cares for Noct and he cares for us. He watches out for all of us. He’s all tough and everything on the outside, but we all know he’s really a big softy on the inside._

_I hope you let Noct know that you’re infinitely and entirely grateful for his friendship. The time he’s spent with a commoner like us, moments spent indulging us for a photograph, going to the arcade and inviting us to the Citadel._

_I hope you’ve told Noct, Gladio and Ignis about that and I hope they accepted you with everything they have, with their entire beings. The time we’ve had with them, is something we hold close to us always, isn’t it? I hope you let them know how much they mean to us. The me of now, I’m too much of a coward to let them know right now, but I hope the future me grows the courage to tell them. Let them know how much they mean to you, they deserve it for all they’ve given us. They mean the world to us after all. I hope you’re happy. I hope you all are._

_Sincerely,  
Prompto Argentum, 20xx _

Prompto stops walking, having reached his destination. Tears stream down his face and his heart clenches, but he lets a small smile on his lips and he greets the tomb in front of him, “Hey, Noct,” He says and sits down.

He cries for the letter that will never be opened and read by his best friend. He cries for the presence that is no longer in his life. For midnight talks and King’s Knight rumbles that will never happen, for the way the 3 will never ever become 4 again. For 10 years that was stolen from them, for a future that was supposed to be but would never as decreed by the Gods above. His grief and sorrow swallows him whole and it feels like he can’t even breathe, an ache resonating throughout his entire being and in his very soul. He misses what once was and will never even again be. 

He misses Ignis’s constant worrying for all 3 of them, for the Ebony that he loves so much. He misses the loud snoring of Gladio that kept him up on some days, He misses Noct’s 10 alarms that rang everyday. He misses the easier times. When he could just wake up and pester them all into a game of card or King’s Knight, the hum of the Regalia as the drove past places. He misses dungeon raids and hunting for royal arms. He misses what once was so so very much that it the longing translates into hurt and on other days it sometimes feels like he’ll never be okay every again. And maybe it might be true, that he’d never be okay. 

Because no matter how much he prays or hopes, it will never come back. So he sits here, in front of the tomb of his best friend and he whispers about a time long gone.

**Author's Note:**

> this is my first ever ffxv fic, which I actually started as a twitter thread lol hence why its short  
> I write threads on there so follow me if you feel like it @uzukagehime  
> also! I hope y'all liked this! let me know what you think?


End file.
